Prominent Democrat takes aim at former President Obama for election loss

Deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee Rep. Keith Ellison recently aired his grievances with former President Barack Obama.

At an event at the University of Minnesota, the prominent Democrat said Obama shares some of the blame for Democratic losses across the country.

"Look I'm a great fan of President Obama," Ellison said. "I totally voted for many of the things he supported. Barack Obama could have been a better party leader, and I think the fact that he wasn't put his legacy in jeopardy."

Rep. Keith Ellison

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Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) speaks during the first session at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 25, 2016.

(REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich)

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (C) stands on stage with his wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders (R), and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-MN) before speaking to supporters during a campaign rally in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 26, 2016.

(REUTERS/Eric Miller)

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) is arrested by U.S. Capitol Police after blocking First Street NW in front of the U.S. Capitol with fellow supporters of immigration reform, on October 8, 2013 in Washington, DC. Last week, House Democrats introduced their own immigration reform bill.

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., attends a rally with low wage federal contract workers on the steps the Department of Labor to call for the minimum wage be raised to $15 per hour, April 14, 2016.

(Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., leaves a meeting with House Democrats in the Capitol Visitor Center, June 22, 2016. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke at the meeting.

(Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Congressman Keith Ellison speaks on stage during 'A More Perfect Union: Obama and The Racial Divide,' featuring Congressman Keith Ellison, Alicia Garza, Margo Jefferson, and Khalil Gibran Muhammad in conversation wiith Jelani Cobb during The New Yorker Festival 2016 at Acura at SIR Stage37 on October 9, 2016 in New York City.

(Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for The New Yorker)

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Ellison added that the former president was great at getting himself elected but not the party as a whole.

The congressman was an early backer of the Bernie Sanders campaign. Ellison ran for the DNC Chairmanship but lost to Tom Perez, the former Labor Secretary under Obama.

In an effort to bring the party together, Perez named Ellison his number two.